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I think whatever the math is behind the stacking penalty is just wrong. All else being equal, more ships should be better than less ships, but more ships should have diminishing returns. So having twice as many ships shouldn't mean you do twice as well, and three times should mean.. etc. etc.

However, it seems to go into overdrive. Instead of diminishing returns, you get negative returns.

Bingo. This is exactly what is going wrong.

Further, I'd go so far as to say that if you have a large enough fleet relative to the opponent, the opponent should automatically flee on sight, with maybe a small chance of being captured instead. A pair of second-raters is not going to try to stand off the entire british navy, and the captain who tried to make them do so would be lucky to survive long enough for the enemy to come in range.
 
Exactly. What would happen in real life if 1000 ships went up against one? Obviously, in real life the thousand ships would be completely useless because of stacking penalty and the lone ship would mow them all down and come out on top. The implementation of stacking penalty in this game is completely realistic.

I suppose it isn't precisely accurate there, but that's how it works.
 
You simply have to consider one important (and often forgotten) piece of information, because it is taken for granted;

Is it possible for 1 ship to sink 10 ships?

Before you say "well of course, because blah blah blah" you need to consider one important thing...

Can 1 ship fire enough cannonballs to sink 10 ships?
You can have the Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad shooting at 10 ships of the line which don't shoot back...but it WILL NOT be able to sink them all BEFORRE THE SHIPS HAVE SAILED PAST.

Remember, holes are not enough to sink a ship, as repair crews etc will patch up as much as possible. You need a fire or a major hull breach.

Hence 10 ships of the line vs 100 ships is auto loss for 10 ships no matter what tactics/admirals you use as the 100 ships will simply SAIL RIGHT PAST THEM. Not to mention any return fire.

Unless the 10 ships are all like fletcher class destroyers
 
I haven't actually played france yet or fought much against the british navy, but i've played GB and the navh is incredible. Really really strong, i doubt anyone can match it even with full out idea points in naval based abilities.

I've had some problems with the french. When attacking the french at land i get my ass handed to me in most battles. They seem to always have some sort of edge even tho i outman them 2:1 they can inflict serious casualties to my armies. Anyone with any good suggestions on how to fight the big french armies? tactics, setup and such, would be much appreciated.
 
The same way they fight your navy: be way bigger and have good leaders.

This.
And I can add : ideas , proper composition of armies + tactics ,and enough supply (without if you will get huge penalty).
Also high war exhaustion (WE) on french side is good idea too.
 
Back on navies problems, as I did restarted to play that game.

playing the french, against the AI, I noticed the optimum amount of ships is 12 ships (10 + 2 frigates), with a back up of 6 ships that are restaured.

The best positioning being Brest up to june 1805, and then move to Calais(?) for a crossing.

I usually finish the english navy by that time, having captured over 20 ships; and that without counting the russians , the portugese, or even the spaniards previously captured by the red coats.

On the other hand, moving from that place earlier is a recipe for catastrophe (early encouter with Nelson for exemple), not having the initial 6 ships as back up ready to be used is a waste of time, and another recipe for catastrophe, because England will start to produce frigates as it was not tomorrow.

Similar to the plan deviced IRL by Latouche Treville, you must cross the channel BEFORE 1st august, and as his plan, it mean an early concentration out of the crossing point (Antilla IRL, here it is Brest), taking the english fleet piece meal (even Nelson with 8 ships can not compete if you hammer him every 2 days with 12 ships, and disengage after 24 hours).

As IRL, even Nelson can be beatten badly (he did, 3 times, against the same person, Latouche Treville, who used hit and run tactic, near Brest!), as long as you are a bit gamey (disengage after 24 hours most of the time, using the fact the AI will not move for the next 24 hours, then you come back with ready to fight ships while the AI still have hurted ships).

Perso, I find it very close to the naval condition of the time, where little can be done against an ennemy strongly positioned into a good port; while at the opposite that one can hit and run your blockade quite well and destroy you slowly.